“I’m a medic. I can look after of myself.”
“You can’t treat yourself or your family. I do have some training in basic first aid—comes in handy on survival treks.” Staring down the icy steps, she flung aside her bra, goose bumps raising on her flesh. “And the sulfur in volcanic springs carries healing, revitalizing qualities.”
Her eyes as steamy as the waters, she shimmied out of her jeans and waded in, magnificently naked.
***
Misty sat on her bed in her bathrobe, towel-drying her hair. She’d never expected to be back in this familiar shabby-chic room she’d decorated with her mother and sister, painting all the reclaimed furniture white. They’d worked together on patchwork curtains and a quilt made from outgrown clothes. Rag rugs lay on the floor to warm her feet in the morning.
Tonight should have ended so differently. She should have been back in civilization, meeting up with Ted and Madison, her heart breaking over saying good-bye to Flynn while trying to convince herself that Brett was really “the one.”
But Ted and Madison were dead. Many more were gone as well. She’d dreamed of leaving here for so long, and now she could only mourn how the place would never be the same. She didn’t even know what to think of her brother and Astrid disappearing. At least her little nephew was settled downstairs with his grandparents, who’d insisted on helping and staying here so he could sleep in his own bed.
She tossed aside the towel and reached for the comb beside her bed.
A cold rush of air blasted over her. She straightened, her stomach lurching with fear. The air smelled of outside, of an open window.
She started to scream just as the patchwork curtains flapped and Flynn’s big head poked through. He pressed a finger to his lips. Just like all the times he’d climbed through her window during high school. She closed her mouth, her stomach flipping with a wholly different sensation that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with anticipation.
Flynn swung his legs through and stood in her room, his head almost touching the sloped ceiling. “I’m not here to push you. I just needed to see you, to reassure myself that you’re okay, and the stuffy old watchdogs downstairs insisted you need your sleep.”
Her skin tingled with heated awareness under her robe. Her naked skin. She should tell him to leave.
But she didn’t.
“Well, close the window before we both freeze to death.” She swung her legs off the bed, waiting to take her cue from whatever he said next.
He shut the window and draped his parka over a bentwood rocking chair, then turned away abruptly to toss another log in the wood-burning stove, seeming hesitant. How strange to see him unsure, when his body and presence filled her room so vibrantly.
Abruptly, he dropped to his knees in front of her so they were eye to eye. He searched her face, his throat moving with a slow swallow.
His eyes glazing with unshed tears?
“Flynn?”
His chest pumped, his breathing ragged. “Everything’s gone so crazy, all those people dead. And it could have been you. If that deputy hadn’t died, if Sunny hadn’t come back in time”—his eyes squeezed shut tight as if to hold the tears, the emotion, inside himself—“it could have been you.”
True to his word to keep his hands to himself, his fists stayed plastered against his sides. The pain on his face was so real, so intense, it took her breath away. She thumbed a lone tear escaping from the corner of one eye. His weather-toughened skin felt so familiar, so dear.
She cupped his cheek. “Why did you sleep with June four years ago?”
“I honest to God don’t know.”
“That’s bullshit.” Her hand fell away.
He opened his eyes, finally meeting her gaze dead on. “I was scared.”
“Bullshit.”
A wry smile tucked dimples into his cheeks. “God, I’ve missed you.”
“You have a funny way of showing it.” Her pride still stung over his silence. Sure, he’d made an effort at first, but before that first year was out, he’d given up. People who loved each other never gave up, they never stopped fighting for the people they cared about, even going to the ends of the earth. Her parents had taught her that.
“I was an eighteen-year-old idiot. I heard you and your sister discussing what kind of wedding you would like to have, and I freaked out. I self-destructed. And I would do anything to change that day, anything. I knew it was a mistake the second after—”
She held up a hand. “I do not want to hear about your postcoital thoughts. Although it sounds to me like the sex sucked, and for that I am so, so glad.”
His mouth went wide with laughter and her heart ached all over again that she would never hear the sound. She placed her hand on his chest to feel the vibrations. He stopped.
“Please, don’t quit,” she said quickly. “I miss the sound of laughter more than anything. I miss your laughter.”
She signed, “I miss you.” The same words he’d used back at the bed-and-breakfast.
He signed back, “I am so very sorry. There is no one for me but you. If that means I live the rest of my life alone, then that’s the way it will be.”
This time, she believed him.
Her fingers crawled from his chest, up the strong column of his throat, and over his stubborn square jaw to his lips. She traced the chapped outline, remembered the feel of him nibbling along her bare skin. He’d been intent on learning what she liked, both of them so inexperienced.
So very hot for each other.
Carefully, hesitantly, he lowered his head and kissed her. He sealed his mouth to hers, fully. Her sigh slipped into him, his into her.
Without hesitation, she slid her arms around him, holding tight. His body was broader and harder than the teenage boy he’d been when they were together. The warmed flannel of his shirt was soft against her fingertips, the scent of him and the crisp air filling her senses. Muscles bulged beneath her touch in sleek definition from a combination of hours spent in the gym during the winter months and exertion outdoors.
Her need for him turned frantic until she could almost swear she heard it buzzing in her ears. She fumbled with the buttons, finally giving up on finesse and yanking his flannel shirt off his shoulders. Buttons popped and fell to the floor. She grasped for his jeans fly. He covered her hands and whispered something against her mouth.
She angled back, looking at him inquisitively.
“Are you sure?” he repeated.
“I have never been more certain of anything.” She tossed aside the flannel and stared at his bared chest.
The washboard lines of his stomach contracted from the caress of her eyes, his jeans open at the zipper and revealing a trail of hair. Her breath hitched in her throat, her limbs turning liquid with desire. She shrugged her robe from her shoulders, savoring the glide of the chenille along her skin, anticipating the feel of his touch.
His pupils widened with appreciation, never leaving her body as he tugged off his boots and shucked his jeans. Moonlight streaked across his body, casting shadows over every well-defined sinew. Her eyes dropped farther and her pulse quickened.
The length of him hard and standing upright against his stomach was so much more than she remembered. Before, she’d reveled in making him groan with the touch of her hand, her mouth. He’d returned the sensations to her tenfold. They’d fooled themselves into thinking they were holding back, but she’d shown him every inch of her body. Given him pleasure, taken pleasure, made herself vulnerable to him in sensual ways she’d never let any other man have.
Standing, she let the robe fall away from her body. His hands shook as he touched her, carefully, reverently, cupping her breasts. He stepped closer, the rasp of hair along his legs a sweet abrasion against her thighs.
And then he lowered her to the bed, his hands moving over her with a familiarity that spoke of how deeply ingrained their time together still was in his mind. He knew just where to touch to make her knees go weak, exactly where
to kiss, lick, nip to make her thrash restlessly against the sheets, aching for release.
Her hands carried the memory of him just as firmly. Those recollections were burned in her mind, guiding her touch over him, around him, stroking until a slick creamy bead sliding over her fingers told her just how close he was to the edge as well.
His chest vibrated with what she knew must be a growl and he drew himself away from her. The brush of air across her overheated flesh made her whimper.
Until he nuzzled one breast, then the other, on his way lower, lower still. Her head pressed back into the pillow. She almost surrendered to the pleasure she knew was a simple flick of his tongue away.
Quickly, urgently, she grabbed his shoulders, pushing him off. He looked up at her, confusion staining his blue eyes.
“Everything,” she said. “I want it all this time.”
His face flooded with understanding a second before he crawled back up her body. She’d waited four years for the fulfillment she hadn’t received all those nights he’d sneaked through her bedroom window. She wasn’t waiting a second longer.
The weight of him was so dear and familiar she ached in corners of her heart she hadn’t dared acknowledge for years. Inching her legs apart, she made room for him, her hands roving his arms and shoulders, soaking up the feel of him.
He kissed her jaw toward her ear, whispering sweet words that she felt in the movement of his lips and the warmth of his breath on her skin. The words didn’t matter. He knew how he’d wanted this moment as much as she had.
Lifting his head, he pushed inside her, slowly, his eyes fixed on hers until he met the thin barrier of resistance. His eyes went wide with surprise that she didn’t want to deal with right now. She arched up to kiss him and wrapped her thighs around him, pushing, straining… A stinging burn throbbed through her as he broke past, filling her, stretching her.
She buried her face in his shoulder while he waited, holding her, stroking her with his hands and his mouth. His chest vibrated against hers and she knew he spoke, but his face was in her hair.
Dampness sealed her cheek to his and she knew the tears weren’t only hers. Her own had nothing to do with pain and everything to do with the emotion welling inside her.
His hand in hers spelled over and over, “I love you. I love you.”
And he kept repeating the words in her palm as he moved inside her, thrusting, determination stamped on his face that he wasn’t leaving her behind. And she trusted him, with her heart and with her body. This was the Flynn she’d known before, but stronger, more mature, the man she’d dreamed he would become.
Bliss swelled inside her, tingling and spreading until even the roots of her hair shimmered with the impending…
Release.
Her arms flung wide, her fingers twisting in the sheets as ripple after ripple crashed over her. Flynn covered her mouth with his and she realized she must have been moaning with the power of the orgasm slamming through her.
Or maybe he was covering his own shout of completion. His muscles bunched against her. His skin darkened with the flush of desire culminating. Just seeing him launched a fresh wave over her until her body lay spent and his arms gave way. He collapsed on top of her, his weight a welcome blanket grounding her to earth again.
His forehead rested on hers, his mouth so close she could read most of what he said, enough to understand the gist. “I love you.”
“You told me.” She cradled his face in her hands the way she still cradled his body inside hers.
“I want to be sure you believe me.” He slid beside her, stroking her hair from her brow. “If I could go back in time.”
“We can’t go back. But we can start from here. A day at a time being honest with each other.”
“Okay, then, I’ll take that.” Relief shuddered through him as he kissed her once, twice, again, punctuating his words. “God, I’ll take that. Because it’s more than I expected to ever have and more than I deserve. If you really can give this a day at a time, then I will work my ass off each and every one of those days, earning your trust back.”
He tucked her closer to him, his chin resting on top of her head. His rapid breathing slowed, evened out until a slight snore ruffled her still-damp hair.
Holding him to her, holding on to the moment, she waited a little longer to be sure he slept deeply. Because she had one last loose end to tie up before she committed to him fully. She needed to send Brett an email to tell him she was sorry, but she had made a mistake. She couldn’t meet him and she didn’t love him.
Her heart still belonged fully and irrevocably to Flynn Everett.
Chapter 16
Hot springs bubbling around her, Sunny straddled Wade’s lap as he sat on a submerged rock step. Only their shoulders and faces peeked above the lapping water. The springs refilled from the geyser in the middle, heated naturally from the mountain’s volcanic core.
The ultimate place to make love.
Aftershocks from her release pulsed through her, steam wafting upward with a slight tinge of healing sulfur. She let the essence of it sink into her pores as she gave over control to pure, undiluted sensation. Sulfur was necessary for all living cells and she could swear she felt those revitalizing qualities now.
Her limbs went boneless and she almost melted against Wade, but remembered his injured shoulder at the last second. She flung her head back and let the tide tug her. She floated toward the geyser in the pool’s center, her body barely submerged. Warm bubbles caressed her back while cool air sketched across her front. The swirling water played peekaboo, revealing patches of her skin.
Above her, northern lights painted the sky with green streaks and bursts of red. God, she never got tired of watching the aurora borealis, named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind. This place was the closest thing to paradise that she could imagine.
The fact that she had a business here that also kept her fed was just an added bonus. She eyed the outdoor haven with pride, the planked fence her brother had helped her build, the small dressing corner stocked with dry, warm towels and robes.
She chased thoughts of her brother from her mind. Not ready to go there yet in any way.
Being with Wade offered a temporary escape from the fast-encroaching reality. Here in her fenced Alaskan oasis, she had a stolen pocket of time before her town self-destructed when everyone woke up and news of the murders spread.
The water swirled faster around her, giving her a second’s warning that Wade approached.
“This is not what I expected.” He stopped beside her.
Underwater, his fingers stroked her spine, caressing with the bubbles until she almost couldn’t separate his touch from the rippling rush. He moved down her back, over her bottom, and along the outsides of her legs.
She sighed with pleasure. “This is probably my favorite place in the whole world. Now I have all the more reason to love it.”
A whisper of worry trickled through her brain like melting water down an icicle. What would happen to her little business, to her haven, to her way of life? It wasn’t as if she could just put a survival school based in a log cabin on the market and folks would come streaming in with big-money offers.
Her feet started to sink and his hands closed around her toes, his thumbs massaging the arches. His artful touch chased away concerns and her eyes slid closed. The feel of his hands on her flesh sent a rush of aurora borealis behind her lids.
“Keep talking,” he said, moving up her body again, between her legs.
Her throat closed up and she worked to push words past. “When I was a teenager, I dreamed of building a place around this spring.”
“Why is that?” He massaged her thighs, higher inch by inch.
“I, uh, missed our gym back in Iowa, and it seemed like having at least a small workout space here would be the perfect way to stay in shape and burn off energy during those dark winter months.” Right now, she was burning off more than ene
rgy. Her whole body was on fire from the subtle pleasure of his caress up her thighs.
“Talk,” he commanded, “or I stop.”
She flicked water on him, while clamping her legs around his waist. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Laughter rumbling, he moved closer, his thumbs at the juncture of her thighs, then…
He pressed against the oversensitive bundle of nerves that already ached for him all over again.
“Wade?”
“Let go, just float. I have you.”
And he did. Her arms splayed out and she felt the waters tug her hair out into a fan around her. Her breasts peeked from the water, her nipples pulling painfully tight from the cold and desire. She tried to speak, but words wouldn’t come.
Increasing the pressure ever so precisely, his fingers circled, plucked, teased. “All this heat with no electric bill.” He stroked along her cleft, already moist from increasing arousal. “As long as the thing doesn’t erupt underneath us.”
She laughed softly, then gasped as his mouth closed over her, lapping, laving, until the aurora borealis wasn’t just behind her eyes, it was exploding inside her. Wade braced her back and urged her farther, higher, milking every last sensation from her completion. Finally, seconds—minutes, hours, she lost track of time—later, her legs slid down him and she slowly righted again.
Looping her arms around his neck, she sagged against his chest and let him hold her, support her weight, as her legs probably wouldn’t work yet anyway. “I think… I’m having… a heart attack.”
“And living so deep on a mountain? That would make access to a major medical facility tough.” He grazed her cheek with a kiss. “Lucky for you I’m proficient in CPR.”
His words chilled her from the inside as she thought of her sister and wondered not for the first time if things could have been different for her if she’d gotten sick somewhere else. How could Wade help but think of his mother, cut off from help? No ambulance and ER right around the corner to care for her horrific injuries.
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